Ka-ga-gak!
My sword clashed against the monster’s machete. Just as I collided head-on with the monster, sothing sharp sliced through the air behind .
It was Kwon Taehyuk’s blade, following close behind to assist , pressing the monster harder.
Krrrgh!
The monster, forced to block my sword with its only machete, had no choice but to expose itself to Kwon Taehyuk’s attack. It growled with clear irritation and struck my sword back with force.
Ka-kang!
“Urgh...!”
I was hurled backward and gritted my teeth as I rushed to close the distance again.
Pain tingled through the arm holding my sword, and a dull ache clouded one side of my head from the fatigue, but now wasn’t the ti to let myself drift.
An S-rank monster was never an easy opponent. Unlike lower-ranked monsters, S-ranks possessed intelligence and varying combat styles, which made them that much more troubleso.
If this were a dungeon, I could leave it to Kwon Taehyuk. But we were in the middle of a city where ordinary people lived. We didn’t have the luxury of taking our ti hunting down an S-rank monster that could bolt in any direction at any mont.
My role was to hold the monster’s attention. I had to keep it locked in place so that Kwon Taehyuk could attack more easily. That was the only way to take it down quickly.
‘What a fate...’
Hoo, I swallowed a hot breath and continued swinging my sword.
Ka-gak, gak, chaeng! Each ti our weapons clashed, my shoulder grew heavier and the blade trembled more.
My lack of strength ant my sword had to absorb that much more impact. It was an S-rank sword, so it wouldn’t break easily, but if I kept going like this head-on, I’d either drop it or damage the blade.
‘I need another way.’
If I had my own skill, things would be easier. As always, I pushed aside the regret and shouted to Kwon Taehyuk.
“Lend a weapon!”
“What?”
“A weapon!”
Thud! I dodged a machete swing by rolling along the ground and called out again with full confidence. Kwon Taehyuk gave a stunned look.
“Hurry!”
There was no ti to be stunned. I shouted again, this ti with so irritation, and Kwon Taehyuk reluctantly sent one of the swords flying around the monster toward .
Unlike my regular longsword, which had a handle and a long blade, the weapon Kwon Taehyuk used had a central grip and sharp, pointed edges on both ends.
I grabbed the flying blade with my left hand and slashed quickly. Shwik, the blade sliced through the air and across the monster’s face.
Kaaak!
The monster scread as a deep gash ran from its left cheek across the bridge of its nose to the right side of its forehead.
Compared to my right arm, which had been fighting the whole ti, my left arm was still relatively fresh—naturally making it less burdenso. I was right-handed, so wielding the weapon with my left felt awkward, but the speed was much faster.
The monster clutched its bleeding face as thick black blood gushed down, snarling as it swung its machete even more wildly in rage.
Boom, bang!
Dodging the axe-like blows that slamd into the ground, I raised the corner of my mouth.
Even if it was more intelligent than other monsters, in the end, it was still a monster. Especially these humanoid ones—aggressive and easy to provoke—were perfect targets for taunting.
‘If I keep provoking it, its movents will get bigger and leave more openings.’
Seeing it respond exactly as I hoped, I thought maybe this would end more easily than expected.
Grinning with confidence, I ducked low to avoid an attack and swung Kwon Taehyuk’s blade horizontally again.
“...!”
Shraakk, black blood splashed as the monster’s flesh was split open. That was fine.
But... because I wasn’t used to using my left hand, the strike landed lower than I had intended.
Kyaaaaargh!
The monster let out a wretched scream and dropped to one knee. I also froze as I realized exactly where I had just struck.
Kwon Taehyuk, who had been running over, also stopped when he saw what had happened.
“......”
“......”
I’d aid to slash the monster’s lower abdon—but the blade had struck sowhere far less fortunate.
A strange silence settled between us, the monster still groaning in pain between us.
Standing behind the monster, Kwon Taehyuk looked at # Nоvеlight # with an expression of pure discomfort. That look practically accused of being a heartless bastard, so I quickly tried to explain.
“That was an accident.”
“What was?”
“It really was. I’m right-handed, so...”
Krrgh, KRAAAARGH!
Before I could finish my excuse, the monster suddenly sprang up and let out a thunderous roar with its mouth wide open.
Its entire body twitched as its muscles flexed, skin turning a deeper shade of red. Saliva dripped from its protruding fangs as its murderous eyes locked onto with bone-chilling intent.
The hatred radiating from it was so intense, so focused solely on , that my shoulders instinctively flinched.
‘Shit... I pushed it too far...’
Just as I began to back away from the shifting atmosphere—
Rumble... A thunderclap rolled across the sky from above. It didn’t co from the rift.
Reflexively, I looked up to see pitch-black clouds filling the entire sky.
Bzzzzt!
Dark lightning crackled between the clouds. A horrible chill ran down my spine just as Kwon Taehyuk shouted.
“Get back!”
CRAAACK!
A pitch-black bolt of lightning struck down right in front of , interrupting Kwon Taehyuk’s shout. That was just the beginning—lightning began raining down endlessly from the sky.
Thoom! Bam! BOOM!
With thunder shaking my eardrums, the power of the lightning tore up the ground. Nearby hunters who had been fighting other monsters panicked and fled in terror.
In an instant, the street turned into total chaos. Who would’ve thought the monster’s skill would be sothing elental—lightning, of all things?
‘You’ve got a lion’s mane and this is your skill?!’
I kept running, dodging lightning bolts that exploded behind with every step.
The barrage of lightning was relentless, filling the air with dust and debris. Roads cracked apart, buildings collapsed.
No matter how hard I looked around, I couldn’t spot Kwon Taehyuk through the thick dust and rubble.
‘This is bad.’
I was going through hell trusting only in Kwon Taehyuk—and now he was gone?
I’d succeeded in making the monster focus on , but now I had no idea where the guy who was supposed to kill it had gone.
Grinding my teeth, I tried to stay calm and sense his energy. He knew we shouldn’t be separated—he couldn’t have gone far. I just had to find him and then...
“Huff, ngh!”
My thoughts were interrupted by a wave of killing intent that pricked my skin. Instinctively, I raised my sword.
Ka-ga-gak! Sothing slamd into my blade hard. Since I’d been running, I couldn’t brace myself—I was thrown backward.
Thud!
“Gah!”
I was helplessly flung into a wall. The impact knocked Kwon Taehyuk’s blade from my hand, and it clattered far across the ground.
Groaning from the pain spreading through my back, I lifted my head to see the monster approaching with its machete.
Grrrk!
It growled low in its throat and swung the machete at as I sat there.
I twisted my head just in ti and rolled sideways. I tried to counterattack imdiately—but the monster was faster.
“Ugh...!”
Its massive hand clamped onto my leg and yanked violently. As I was dragged toward it, the machete ca down at my neck—but I barely blocked it with my sword.
“Kwon Taehyuk!”
Clang, clang. The sword trembled violently as it struggled to hold back the machete.
The more strength I lost, the closer the machete ca. The monster hovered right over , panting with rage, its bloodshot eyes locked on my throat.
“Kwon... Kwon Taehyuk...!”
I couldn’t hold on. Just as I was about to lose my grip entirely, I used every last bit of strength to shout his na.
And then—
KWAJIK!
“...!”
A blade flew in from sowhere and pierced the monster’s head in an instant.
As I gasped, two more blades followed and embedded themselves into the monster’s body.
Grrk...
With a grotesque groan, the monster slowly collapsed to the side. Clang, the machete slipped from its lifeless hand and hit the ground.
“Haa... haa...”
Once I confird it was dead, I slowly pushed myself upright.
I couldn’t even take off my mask—I was panting hard, breath caught at my chin. Through the thinning dust, Kwon Taehyuk appeared.
“...You found .”
“You were yelling that loud—how could I not?”
Despite his annoying tone, Kwon Taehyuk reached out to help . I wasn’t in any shape to refuse, so I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up.
As soon as the monster died, the dark clouds in the sky vanished like a lie. Looking up, I noticed sothing else welco.
Like the clouds, the rift had also begun to shrink, its entrance slowly closing.
[Main Quest: Survive the second rift. (Ti remaining: 6 hours 08 minutes)]
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